1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to access to enclosures, such as batting cages, and, more particularly, is concerned with access door unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Enclosures, for example batting cages, typically do not come with or have a conventional or regular style door, one that opens, closes, latches, and allows users with baseball equipment to entry and exit easily to and from the batting cage. There are some batting cages that have what is called a “flap door”, built into the net of the batting cage. The flap door typically is an overlapped piece of the net configured to form a flap that covers an opening in the netting. To enter or exit the batting cage the user has to fold back the flap and navigate through the opening usually while carrying baseball equipment. The flap door typically is cumbersome to manipulate and does not open wide enough for easy passage with equipment. Additionally, they are difficult to see and thus find in that they do not appear distinct from the net. Thus, they are neither easy nor convenient to use.
Many batting cages require users to lift a net wall of the batting cage to enter and exit. Lifting the cage wall can be difficult for many users in that a user has to stoup over or bend down. Furthermore, requiring that a wall be capable of being lifted for allowing entry or exit can also prevent the batting cage user from safely anchoring or “staking or weighting” the bottom edges of the batting cage walls to prevent passage of balls from the cage.
U.S. Patent No. Des. 276,466 to Giovagnoli discloses a batting cage with access doors to its batting compartments. The batting cage appears to be constructed by an extended framework supporting a net so as to define a plurality of side-by-side batting compartments. The extended framework appears to incorporate and support a doorway frame portion in a front wall of each batting compartment that extends from a corner thereof. The access doors to the batting compartments appear to be pivotally supported by the doorway frame portions. The approach of this design patent would appear to be dependent on and limited to the batting cages having the particular arrangement of the extended framework.